4 Rounds with a 4 minute running clock:
Row 500m(400m)
With remaining time, as many kettlebell swings as possible, 32kg(24kg)
Rest 2 minutes
Post reps to comments and BTWB
Elephants are the only animals without knees. . . I promise. . . I think. I have no idea what I’m talking about By Courtney Shepherd and the inter webs
So yesterday morning I started all my classes with a warm-up involving the bear crawl. In every single class there was at least one person doing said bear crawl with their legs straight, knees locked out. So in every class I made this statement,
“You guys know bears have knees right? You can bend your knees when you bear crawl. Elephants don’t have knees but I’m not asking you to do an elephant crawl. . . so bend your knees.”
Now the 5:30am and 6:30am went with it, but the 7:30am class. . . . . well the 7:30am class was not having my small piece of logically sound trivia. I was called out instantly. Which meant I took to the Googles instantly. My confidence in the elephant/ knee situation is based on the fact that I was also VERY positive that elephants can’t jump. But 7:30am brought up the point that if elephants don’t have knees then how do the ones in the circus do some of the tricks they do? Valid point. Apparently I had not fully thought this through.
Well folks, you may think this is a pointless blog post but really it’s not. Because what I am giving to you today is the ability to keep the conversation alive at all your festivus functions you will be attending this week. So. . . you’re welcome.
Here are 3 myths about elephants that, like me, you probably believe and 3 amazing facts that, per the article I stole this from (click here for full article), you will be glad you now know:
Elephants drink water through their trunks, like a straw
Myth. Although they do use their trunks to drink, the water won’t go all the way up. Instead, they’ll suck the water part way up the trunk and pour it into their mouths – a lot. Elephants drink between 140 and 230 litres a day on average.
Elephants love to eat peanuts
Myth. Elephants certainly don’t eat peanuts in the wild, and they’re not a typical diet for captive animals either. Elephants are the world’s biggest land animals and have to spend 16 to 18 hours a day eating. Peanuts, on the other hand, are tiny.
Elephants are the only mammal that can’t jump
Myth. It is true that adult elephants can’t jump. But there are other mammals that can’t either, like sloths, hippos and rhinos. Although, unlike elephants, hippos and rhinos can have all four feet off the ground at the same time when they run.
Elephants can ‘hear’ with their feet
Fact. Elephants have excellent hearing, but African elephants can also detect rumbles in the ground with sensory cells in their feet. An elephant will ‘hear’ these vibrations when they travel to its front feet, up its legs and shoulder bones and to its middle ear. The elephant will be able to tell where the sound is coming from by comparing the timing of the signals.
The elephant’s closest relative is a guinea pig lookalike
Fact. The rock hyrax is a small, furry, rat-like mammal that lives in rocky landscapes across sub-Saharan Africa and along the coast of the Arab peninsula. Amazingly, elephants and rock hyraxes share several common features in the toes, teeth and skull; like two tusks, and flattened nails on the tips of their digits (as opposed to claws commonly seen on other mammals). It has been about 60 million years since their common ancestor existed.
The Chinese translation of ‘ivory’ is ‘elephant tooth’
Fact. Although tusks are actually the elongated incisor teeth of the elephant, they can’t just ‘fall out’ like human teeth. Many people in China – where the ivory trade is booming – might not realise that elephants are brutally killed for their tusks. Polls by the International Fund for Animal Welfare found that 70 per cent of Chinese people didn’t realise that ivory comes from dead elephants.
Now because I don’t want you to feel fully jilted out of some amazing CrossFit style wisdom, I would also like to make sure that everyone knows WHY the bear crawl is such an important and pivotal training movement (click here for full article):
Bear Crawls Build Strength
Think of the Bear Crawl as a moving Plank. It works your core muscles just like the Plank, but since you’re moving, it engages more muscles and forces your core to work harder to keep you stable. “The Bear Crawl strengthens your core and works your entire body, especially your shoulders, arms and glutes,” DeCillis says.
Bear Crawls Increase Mobility
DeCillis adds that the Bear Crawl improves hip mobility. When you crawl, your hips go from fully flexed to fully extended, taking the joint through its entire range of motion. This makes it a perfect warm-up drill—plus it gets your heart pumping and wakes up your central nervous system.
Bear Crawls Improve Conditioning
The Bear Crawl is a full-body movement, so it’s a no-brainer to use as a conditioning tool. It increases your muscular endurance and improves your overall conditioning base.
Bear Crawls are Versatile
“I often use the Bear Crawl especially with youth athletes and people who are not yet ready to be loaded with resistance exercises,” DeCillis says. Once you have sufficient strength, you can try more challenging variations, like moving laterally or backward. To further increase the challenge, perform the move wearing a weight vest or crawl as fast as possible over a set distance.
So there you have it folks. What’s the moral of this story? Well, there are several. . . 1) Be skeptical of my “trivia”, 2) elephants have 2 knees and 2 elbows, but they still can’t jump, 3) Bear crawling is badass.
Happy hump day.
**Thursday and Friday are abbreviated schedules. Thursday we will be doing the 12 Days of Christmas WOD and Friday we only have 1 class. PLEASE, PLEASE sign up on MBO , you know, per the usual.
